It Came Upon a Christmas Fury
by magicmumu
Summary: When Regina hears that Snow is angry with Emma for not getting gifts for anyone, Regina comes to the sheriff's defense. pre-Swan Queen


It Came Upon a Christmas Fury

by Erin Griffin

Fandom: Once Upon a Time

Pairing: Mostly pre- Swan Queen with background Snowing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

beystiality on Tumblr prompted: pre-SQ Christmas prompt - Emma didn't get anyone Christmas present (because she had been alone her whole life, she barely reckon the holiday at all) apparently, Christmas is a big thing back in enchanted forest and it;s a sacred tradition to give present for people you love. Snow was severely upset but playing passive-aggressive about it and left Emma clueless. Regina noticed it and smack some sense into Snow.

*Just so you know, I didn't do quite what the prompt said, but hopefully close enough to get the job done. Thanks for the prompt.

Regina was surprised when she walked on the sidewalk to see that the Sheriff's office lights were on. It was a snowy Christmas Eve night. No one should be there. She was so much more surprised when, after walking in through the unlocked door and turning the corner, she saw Emma at her desk with an unopened bottle of spirits topped with a green bow. The blonde's eyes were cast outside, where snow fell down as it has for the past week and a half, and Regina heard the sniffling from her. "Sheriff Swan?" she asked, unsure if using her first name was appropriate that that time. She needed to find out what had the blonde there first, and then she will go from there, the older woman decided.

"Oh." Emma quickly wiped her eyes, and then she turned to look at Regina. "Hey," she said. She seemed as if she just couldn't hide her sadness no matter how much she wanted to. The fact that Emma had been crying at all startled Regina, and her chest stirred as anger flared inside at the thought of someone making the Savior cry. She hadn't seen tears on the other woman's face since Henry was in danger, and the fact that she fought to keep Regina from seeing it told the older woman that she didn't cry often, nor did she like people seeing her cry. Regina understood.

"Emma, what happened?"

"It's nothing. I am being stupid, and I will go home soon, I promise," Emma assured her.

"Miss Swan, I know that you have been through a lot of things- Hell, I'd bet my home that I have been through a lot of the worst of it with you- but I would like to think that I know you at least well enough to know that you don't cry over stupid things. Something happened, and you are clearly upset, or you wouldn't be here."

"Caught," Emma replied somewhat bitterly.

Regina walked over to the blonde and stood by the chair opposite her at the desk and then, slowly sat down. "I'm here to listen," Regina said.

Emma stared at Regina and saw that she wasn't lying and that she was sincere. "My mother and I had a fight. Truthfully, I don't think the two us as mother and daughter is going to work out. We clicked so well when we met, and I realize that it was BECAUSE we are mother and daughter that we were able to do that, but now that she is Snow and not Mary Margaret, and now that I am the Savior and not just the sheriff of this little ass town…" Emma sniffled as another tear misted in her left eye first and then her right. "I didn't get anybody presents. It hadn't crossed my mind to. I was always alone and or too poor to get anybody anything, but I always try this time of year to do things for people, like cleaning up more, or shoveling the sidewalk- things like that to show my appreciation for like coworkers who didn't completely piss me off, you know."

"I know you bought my coffee the other morning when we entered Granny's at the same time, and took Henry sledding for an entire day. I know he understood this was like his gift from you," Regina added a moment later when Emma paused. She was rewarded with a small smile.

"I'm glad he wasn't upset with me, too."

"Snow got upset because you didn't get any gifts for her this year?"

"For no one. She didn't get it. I cleaned her fireplace, shoveled the walk everyday, kept my areas clean at all times, stuff like that. I did more stuff for her than anyone else. It seems like nothing I did was good enough for her."

Regina didn't need much for her anger towards Snow White to reemerge, but when she heard Emma's last sentence, she froze, her mind filled with images of Cora. She could sense that there was more there that Emma wasn't going to say, and Regina's mind raced at what more that Emma was hiding about these statements. The mayor's whole body got hot, and as a tear finally escaped the blonde, Regina set her jaw and quickly stood up. She leaned forward and placed a hand firmly on Emma's shoulder. The two women were surrounded by the familiar purple smoke as Regina transported the startled sheriff back the the Charmings' home. Both Emma and Snow let out a shout at the same time. Right away Regina flicked her wrist, swiping her fingers outward as if to swat a fly away from her ear, and David was stopped in his tracks by the Christmas lights that decorated the house coming to life and wrapping around him. Snow's voice went out, and she touched her throat.

"You've done enough talking. The foot in your mouth could fill the shoe that that Child Protective Services nightmare lives in, and I am here to keep you from making everyone's Christmas worse, do you understand?"

"Regina!" came Emma's, which seemed a little weaker since the sheriff was fighting off the nausea at this new mode of transportation.

"Let me speak, dear or you will join your parents until I leave," Regina replied, though for once it was an empty threat. This alone caused for Emma to stare at the darker woman, confused. Regina took a couple of steps to Snow. Her enemy didn't back down, and Regina gave her kudos for that in her mind, but it made her next bit of intimidation a bit more effective. Regina grabbed Snow's chin and turned her body. "Look at her, your beautiful daughter. Now look at the tears. Tears that YOU caused." Regina turned again so that she once again blocked Snow's view of Emma and the sheriff's view of her mother. "Were the lack of gifts really worth that, Snow White? Still the spoiled child you always were, I see," Regina said with disgust. She let go of Snow's chin, flicked her wrist again, and Snow got her voice back.

"I didn't mean-

"Does it really matter what you MEANT, dearie, when the hurt remains?" Regina balled up her fists, but only her right fist opened up again, revealing a fireball.

"REGINA-!" Emma called.

"Gifts mean that much to you?" the woman asked, "Well, let's see how you like them now!" She threw the fireball above Emma's head and the Christmas tree caught fire.

"REGINA!" Emma called again, running to the older woman and placing a hand on Regina's arm. "IT'S OKAY! REGINA PUT THE FIRE OUT! PLEASE!" she pleaded.

"It's NOT okay! But because you said please…" She waved dismissively, and the tree, gifts and decorations all disappeared. David fell to the floor but caught himself, bracing for the impact and landing on his feet. "You'll get them back once you learn the true meaning of Christmas. Until then, you know where we'll be." With that, Regina turned to Emma, placed a hand gently on her cheek with a small encouraging smile, and the two women disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

Once in the den, Regina looked around her home to see traces of her son's activities, and she heard the sound of video game violence coming from upstairs. She snapped her fingers, and the fireplace came to a roar, and Emma's bottle of spirits floated before the blonde. Regina went to the small bar and handed Emma a glass, which the sheriff took hesitantly. Regina then turned back towards the fire, staring blankly into it. "That was wild," Emma commented after a long pause. She opened the bottle and poured a small amount of the alcohol into it. "I…" She took a drink and then went silent. "Thank you for sticking up for me back there," she finally said, sitting down in one of the chairs.

"After all you've done for me these days, it's about damn time I paid you back." Regina turned to Emma then. "I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me."

There was a small smile on Emma's face, and Regina knew that her actions were forgiven. This was reinforced by the blonde's next words. "You had your back to my mother when you lit the tree up like that. If I had my camera, I would have taken a picture of Snow's face. Maybe blow it up an frame it for you, and that - y'know - woulda been my gift to you," Emma admitted.

Regina's mind conjured up images of what Snow's face could have looked like and she chuckled. "You would never worry about gifts for me again if you had done that, dearie." There was a long silence as both women fell into their own thoughts. It was comfortable for it being quiet for so long. An hour later, there was a knock on Regina's door. "Now, who could THAT be?" she asked, winking at Emma and then going to the door. "You might want to get that, dearie. As soon as a sincere apology has been spoken from her, the tree, lights- everything will return as if I hadn't messed with it, and you can let her know this - AFTER she's said she's sorry for being a spoiled brat."

Regina watched as Emma left the den and went out to speak with her parents. Regina sighed as she thought about her own mother. She hoped that some of this behavior wasn't the start of Snow White's darkened heart, that she was just a privileged and naive child, which, as Regina knew full well, was just as harmful. She grabbed for the glass Emma had set down, and waved it away magically before she went to the other armchair and stared again at the fire. She felt a little bit of loneliness even though Henry was upstairs. She was allowing him an extra hour before bedtime, since he wasn't due back to school for another week and he had been an angel so far. A moment later, the door closed, and there was a little bit of silence before Regina picked up on the sound of footsteps. Then, she saw Emma Swan re-enter the room. "I told them what you said," was all she said at first. "I promised that I would be there tomorrow morning, but… If you're okay with it, I'd like to stay here tonight. I can sleep on this couch if you-"

"I do have a guest room, Miss Swan," Regina said, but she was still perplexed by Emma's words. "You have your family back now, and you've made up, haven't you?"

"She said she was sorry. Doesn't make the hurt go away in an instant," Emma said.

"I understand. You can stay over tonight. Henry would like that. I will make a Christmas breakfast, and if they wish to come over or have Henry and you go over there, I won't mind either."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me."

"I find… I find myself always worrying about you," Emma admitted.

Regina looked over to the blonde, and then back to the fire. "And I you."

"Promise me, whatever we end up doing tomorrow, that you will try to have a merry Christmas."

"Tell you what, Emma: no matter what you end up doing, if you can get that unflattering picture of your mom, I will have a very, very merry Christmas." There was a glint in her eyes as she spoke.

"You're on," Emma said.

The two women settled in after that, and then Regina and Emma both saw Henry off to bed, much to the boy's surprise and delight.

The next morning, when Regina was making pancakes for Henry and Emma, there was a knock on the door. Regina was surprised to see a sheepish Snow and David at their door. In Snow's hand was a large platter, as was there a couple of bags of what looked like candy in both of David's. Regina mused to herself that they look like Dug from 'Up'. She expected for one of them to tell her that they hid under the porch because they loved her, but she sighed when they stayed silent. Snow heard it, and this seemed t get her to start talking. "I don't care about gifts- I - I really don't. I just wanted the perfect Christmas as a family, and I… I got carried away. You were right, Regina. I forgot what this season has always been about, both here and in our realm, and I wanted to thank you for showing me that," Snow said, a tear falling down her cheek."

Regina sighed again and stepped back to let the two of them in. "I hope you're okay with pancakes, your majesty," she said without emotion.

"Thank you. I brought a few things- nothing much, just something for later."

"I appreciate that." Regina closed the door and waited as David and Snow shed their coats.

"Have you… Have you made the apple pie yet?" Snow asked.

"I have not, why?"

"Would you like a little help this year?"

Regina brought her hand to her neck, flipping some of the hair on her neck around in front of her. Then she looked into the kitchen where it was silent, and everyone in the foyer knew that Henry and Emma could hear them. This made up her mind and she said, "I could use an extra hand, now that there are a few more people this year, yes." Snow seemed to sigh in relief, as well as fight herself from hugging her, something Regina was thankful for. Regina then motioned in towards the kitchen, where she showed them where they could put the food they had brought, and then Regina went back to making pancakes. Overall, the holiday could have been worse, and it was pretty minimal in comparison with just Henry getting the bulk of the gifts, but when Regina saw the many smiles from both the blonde and Henry throughout the day, she knew it was all worth it.


End file.
